So!! Who's finished Deathly Hallows??
POSTED BY: PhoenixRose
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 19:03
VIEWED: 20853
PAGE 8 of 12
I finished DH about 2:00 PM Sunday. I was wondering where the thread was for it. Well, now I know that.
Some of my favorite moments:
Hagrid is dead!!??!! ...Oh, wait, no he's not. Jo, you evil little...
Firefly/Serenity memes, especially in the escape-from-Privet-Drive scene and its aftermath. "Have you found the nav sat?" "Uh, Sir... we found seven." And then, Hagrid: "...Where's Hedwig?"
The Conversion of Kreacher. Wonderful to see the crazy old elf come around.
Luna's bedroom, with her pictures of Harry and Co. knitted together with a ribbon saying friends... friends... friends. Made me think of the Browncoats.
Ron leaving, then returning, and Hermione's most unexpected reception for him.
Harry's wand! I almost lost hope at that point. How could he win without that? ...although the book's cover art suddenly made more sense.
Neville, the brave hero and leader of the DA at Hogwarts. And Ginny, who will not be kept out of the battle, no matter what.
The return of Percy.
Fiendfyre. That should be a challenge for the filmmakers!
The house elves joining the fray armed with cleavers against wands.
The desanctification of Dumbledore.
The redemption of Snape.
Kickass Mama Weasley. Kickass Peeves. Kickass Trelawney.
The strange lack of consequences for the Malfoy clan. Were they all spared because of Narcissa's help for Harry at a critical moment?
Still wondering about a few things. Rowling could easily fill a book just tying up loose ends. What about Umbridge? The surviving Death Eaters? Who took over at Hogwarts? What do the trio, and Ginny, and Luna do in later life? (At least we know Neville is teaching.)
Overall, a very satisfying read. I'll probably start a slower-paced reread shortly.
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I'm pointin' right at it!
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Oh my... rereading... Fred at the wedding saying something like "When I get married everyone can wear what they want and I'll put a full Body-Bind curse on mum until it's over..."
"When I get married"... *sniff*
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I know it was strange that the Malfoys became somewho impotent in the end. I had such high hopes of Draco turning out to do something to redeem himself - along the lines of Harry's lesson in 'The Chamber of Secrets', it's the choices we make... he could have turned 'good', kind of balanced Tom Riddle turning evil, but even after the trio saved his life in the room of requirement he wasn't shaken up enough to take a long hard look at himself!
I was glad we got the full story about Snape's love for Lily... it made more sense to me that he loved her for almost all his life, and that he never loved anyone else... When I reread his death the moment when he asks Harry to just look into his eyes, and he dies feeling like he's connected with Lily again... wow...
I got a lot of Christian connitations in this one. There were some really valuable life lessons, but there was also a very powerful sense of 'Christ going to the cross' when Harry was walking into the forest without saying goodbye, knowing that Voldemort had to kill him and he wouldn't defend himself. Later I understood that a little more when it became clear that the same self-sacrifice Harry had made had protected all the others from Voldemort, and the message of Christ's death on the cross is that everyone has an opportunity of new life becuase of that sacrifice. I don't mention this to push my own faith or anything - but I have heard that Joanne is a Christian herself, and rarely talks about it becuase she didn't want people to speculate about the possible ending of the books... I can see why now.
It seems so obvious that he did exactly what Lily did with much higher stakes, but despite the first hand experience of that occassion, Tom Riddle (yes, I liked Harry diminishing him to his given names) did not learn anything about love and deep, old magic...
Oh so much more to ponder - much, muich more to discuss... but I must go to bed...
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Oh I just loved all the unexpected turns, but I really liked that Dumbbledore became human for the first time...well for us and Harry anyway.
It does finally explain why Snape can never stand to look Harry in the eye and when he does, he backs down every time.
I love the idea of Neville being a teacher at Hogwarts( I am assuming Herbology)
Yeah she could have done lengthy explainations of everyone's outcomes, but I think it's enough to know the main ones...
I am re-reading it now to find all the little details I missed:)
"I'm not all that interested in the mental health of people who want to kill me. "- Leroy Jethro Gibbs
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Sheesh, you guys read slowly. Took me just over four hours to whip through that li'l sucker.
Sorry, but the epilogue made me barf. I'm going to pretend it never happened, and finish with Harry sacking out with a sandwich.
But Snape? Woot!
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MsG...I guess you get to do the "Snape is good" victory dance!! 
I SOOO wanted him to be bad!
King of the Mythical Land that is Iowa
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Reading it again this weekend, and I'm just wondering what took Harry so long realizing where the diadem was. Seems strange to me that it wouldn't have seemed familiar the instant he saw the statue. I mean, he'd touched the gorramn thing! It taking so long to sink in seemed odd.
Also, a lot of things didn't seem to tally with last books. The whole thing of his Cloak being one of a kind, but all others looking just like it? "Silvery Invisibility Cloak" was always the description; it was never indicated that his was special. Even saying there were different types could have explained it, but they all seemed the same until this book. I've wondered about other things throughout the series like that; things never talked about, even in passing, and then there they are, and are talked about for the rest of the books. Hogsmeade, never mentioned until the third book, and then a deal. Thestrals, never mentioned (except as 'invisible horses') until the fifth book, even though Harry should have been able to see them from the start (having seen death as a baby, as confirmed by Voldemorts memories of the night) stuff like that. I still adore these books, but it seems kind of lazy.
Oh, and I don't think she could fill a whole book with what ended up happening to everyone. Maybe, if she really strained it, but that would be lame. I think even a few extra pages in the epilogue could have given a lot of info on some things that weren't tied up as neatly as maybe they could have been. Maybe there will be a few missing pieces filled in by the Encyclopedia she has some tentative plans to release, though!
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
A troll's hair is still pointy, even when it's wearing a hat.
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I was pretty sure Harry was going to die.. so I was surprised there!!! ^_^
*Browncoat Bobhen*
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WellI took my time. went to a concert that Fri so didn't do the midnight opening. Had to be at work at 6am Sat. Got the book after work but it was my birthday and I HAD to goto my sisters for a BBQ. Sun took my nephew to see Order of the Phoenix. So didnt really get started till Sun night. Finished at midnight thirty Tues/Wed, then took it to my nephew after I was done at the comic shop. The deal we have is I buy for him but I read first. Loved it. Did seem bogged down at points but still awsome. They were still kids and were trying to sort things out so they were a bit lost in the woods for a while. I new Nevel was gonna be a hero almost from the begining, his killing the snake with the griffindors sword, a true member of the house of griffindor. New Snape was good and it was because of Lilly. As for Harry seeing the invisible flying horses that was explained. He was to youg to comprehend what had happened, it wasn't untill the V man killed Cedric in front of him did Harry know death.
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No. Sorry. It wasn't explained. It was never even discussed within the books. And it didn't say "Those who can see thestrals are those who have seen and understood death" or "those who have known death" but simply "those who have seen death". Those who have watched someone die. The eyes that can see a thestral are eyes that have seen life snuffed out. Harry was standing and holding the bars of his crib and saw his mother die, with his very own innocent eyes, when he was a year old, and should have always seen the thestrals. Not being able to understand what he was seeing doesn't change what he saw; that's just fanon explination, unless you can point to something Rowling wrote that says otherwise.
It just feels like she wasn't always sure what was going to be introduced from book to book, and didn't put in any foundation for it. Or she just wanted something new and unexpected and mysterious every book, and didn't think about there being no foundation for it or having contradictions. And it seems a little lazy.
Saying that, I have read most of these books upwards of seven times and I love the series; I'm just at the nitpicking stage right now.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
A troll's hair is still pointy, even when it's wearing a hat.
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